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Tornado Confirmed in Georgia; Hit Man of Juarez Arrested; President's Commission Looks at Deficit; New HIV Infections Down 20 Percent; Allegations of Widespread Fraud in Haitian Elections; Future Innovators Get $100,000 Fellowship to Follow Their Dreams; Unemployment Benefits Set to Run Out for 2 Million Americans; NASA Calls News Conference to Discuss Extraterrestrial Life; Branson Publishes New Magazine Only Available to iPad Users; Ed Rollins Declares: You're No Reagan, Sarah Palin

Aired December 01, 2010 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. I'm Kate Bolduan. You've got one more hour to stick around with me. In the next hour, here's what's on "The Rundown."

A doomsday warning if we don't tackle the deficit and a loud call for big cuts that could cut deep into your family's finances.

Plus, we'll take to you a place where death is a way of life, inside the drug wars at the Mexican border.

And a penny for your thoughts? Better yet, how about $100,000? Big bucks for big ideas. There's only one catch. You have to be under 20.

But first, we're tracking some very severe storms that are moving up the East Coast. We've been talking about it all day, and we need to talk about it again. A severe thunderstorm warning has just been issued for New York City metropolitan area, just been issued. Forecasters are concerned about flooding, with heavy rain expected for most of New England. Major delays are already reported at La Guardia, JFK and other airports, unfortunately.

This same system already slammed the South, spinning off at least four tornadoes in Mississippi. Twisters hit Yazoo City for the second time this year, but unlike the storms in April, there are no reports of severe injuries or deaths. And in rural Louisiana, a storm tore through the town of Atlanta (ph). It ripped one home to shreds. You can see it right there. Also, no injuries reported there. Very good news.

And in Buford, Georgia, just outside Atlanta, we've learned it was, in fact, a tornado that caused all of this damage in one neighborhood. The storm also killed a 54-year-old driver when heavy winds toppled a tree that fell onto his car.

Our meteorologist Jacqui Jeras has been in Buford all day long. Jacqui, thanks for sticking around and joining us now from some of the destruction. I want to get to the destruction that you've been looking at all day, but tell me first about this severe thunderstorm warning in New York City.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, there is a warning, and winds could exceed 55 miles per hour. And this includes downtown. This includes Manhattan. This includes the Queens area, as well. And that's in effect until 2:30. So we don't see any rotation with that storm right now. However, you do need to seek shelter because we could have some damaging winds.

And keep in mind the wind advisory that's in effect, we could see 50-mile-an-hour gusts from that, as well. So stay indoors until this storm passes. There aren't any watches in effect right now. So be aware of that, that we think this is a pretty isolated area.

There you can see all the airport delays from these winds and thunderstorms. La Guardia and JFK both had a ground stop, which means nobody can take off from other airports to get in there. Boston looking at an hour. Look at Newark, oh, that is painful, 4 hours and 30 minutes. Over an hour in Philly, Teterboro about the same, and Washington Dulles has delays around 30 minutes.

Very cold temperatures on the back side of this front, too, by the way. Be prepared for at least 20-degree drop. And that's what we're dealing with her in Georgia today. It is a sunny, beautiful day, but it feels like temperatures in the 30s, even 20s earlier this morning. So it's very bitter cold for these folks to clean up.

Go ahead and take a look at some of the damage we've been dealing with here. Several homes, about 12 of them, were just leveled. There you can see the video from that. And this home lost the entire side. Here you can see a lamp. You can see the couch which has been pulled over there, you know, pictures and mirrors that are still on the walls in this area. Take a look at this wall. If you look up here, this whole thing was pushed back at, like, a 90-degree angle. This was a well constructed home. You know, these aren't shabby homes. And so it's amazing to see how much damage.

And if you over here, this is one of the other big signs, and you might be able to hear the buzzing in the background. The chainsaws are going as they're trying to clean up. And you can see how those tree branches are twisted in different directions and they're broken down. And that's one of those signs that we look at to determine whether or not it was a tornado. And yes, it was here in Buford, Georgia, an EF-2 with winds of about 130 miles per hour. So lots of devastation in this area. Thankfully, nobody was injured in this neighborhood.

And a lot of the people actually weren't home, either, Kate. They were mostly at work at 3:30 in the afternoon.

BOLDUAN: Just amazing! I can't believe it. It looks like you're standing in someone's living room, and you actually should be outside of their house. Just amazing, Jacqui. Thanks so much for sticking around. We'll talk to you soon.

So it's time now for our "Sound Effect" today. We want to hear -- we're going to hear from a man the whole world wants to find. He's Julian Assange, founder of none other than WikiLeaks and also a rape suspect in Sweden. Amid the firestorm over those WikiLeaked cables from the State Department, the global cops of Interpol have put out a "red notice" stemming from the sex case. That's not exactly an arrest warrant, more like a "be on the lookout" to 188 countries around the world. A court in Stockholm issued its own warrant two weeks ago, finding probable cause that Assange might have been involved in rape and molestation back in August. Assange says he's innocent and calls the prosecution a smear campaign.

But in late October, when he sat down with CNN's Atika Shubert, he really did not want to talk about it.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So you don't want to address whether or not you feel this is an attack on WikiLeaks?

JULIAN ASSANGE, FOUNDER, WIKILEAKS: It's completely disgusting, Atika.

SHUBERT: I'm asking whether or not...

ASSANGE: I'm going to walk if you're going to contaminate us revealing the deaths of 104,000 people with attacks against my person.

SHUBERT: I'm not. What I'm asking is if you feel that it's an attack on WikiLeaks.

ASSANGE: OK. Sorry.

SHUBERT: Julian, I'm happy to go onto that -- in what sense? I have to ask that question, Julian.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: The U.S. Justice Department says it's launched its own investigation of Assange for the leaks. All the while, he's lying low somewhere in the world.

Another controversial story that we're watching, day one of a pilot program aimed at boosting organ donations in New York. Now through May, New York City will be sending out two ambulances to some 911 calls. The first is a standard EMT rig. The second is called the Organ Preservation Unit. That second crew will hang back out of sight. But if the patient doesn't make it, it will gently approach the family about removing the kidneys ASAP for donation.

There are safeguards in place meant to head off any ethical issues associated with it, and the program backers say if the trial goes OK, it could be revolutionary. Last year, close to 5,000 Americans died waiting for new kidneys.

Something else pretty unusual for New York -- a lot of talk about New York today -- an earthquake. A 3.9 quake rumbled the region yesterday morning. Obviously, people in California are scoffing right now. That's nothing. But hey, this was the area's biggest quake in some 20 years. No injuries or damage or anything reported, so that's very good. The epicenter is that box there that you're looking at, 80 miles off Southampton, Long Island, and 120 miles off Toms River, New Jersey. The strongest quake ever to shake the Big Apple, magnitude 5.2s, back in the 1700 and 1800s.

So a first look at a horror story that started unfolding two years ago -- two years ago. The California attorney general has just released this video showing a 16-year-old boy escaping the home where he was held captive and tortured. You see him only in boxer shorts, running into a nearby health club, begging for help.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A young man came into the front door, came in very dirty. You could tell something was wrong. He was holding a chain around his ankle with a padlock on it. He quickly came up and just said, Please help me, They're coming for me. Help me. Can I hide behind here?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Four people have now been convicted in that case. They face up to 30 years in prison.

Another story we're watching. If you can't clear it out, burn it down. I guess that's what -- is a good idea. That's what the bomb squad says is the safest thing to do with a house crammed with explosives in California. We're talking about chemicals, grenades and three types of explosive, including PETN. That's the stuff used by both the shoe and underwear bombers. The man who lives there has pleaded not guilty to more than two dozen explosives charges -- and two counts of bank robbery, by the way. The controlled burn is expected to happen next week.

After a break, the moment of truth. I'll show you how some very smart people want to fix America's finances and why your finances might suffer if they can't.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: If you're trying to budget holiday spending or planning a New Year's financial resolution -- wouldn't that be nice! -- you can sympathize with the people who are trying to do the impossible, make the government live within its means. OK, it's not impossible, but it seems to be amazingly tough. A blue ribbon bipartisan commission created by President Obama put every conceivable tax and expense on the table, from Medicare to even museum fees, and managed to balance the budget in 2035, a quarter century from now.

And when the members vote on the plan on Friday, they may well reject it, but co-chair Alan Simpson says somebody has to do something and do it soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALAN SIMPSON (R-WY), CO-CHAIR, DEBT REDUCTION PANEL: We all know the figures and we all know the math. And the fact really is, this is it. No more fun and games, smoke and mirrors, alchemy, trickery, cunning, CYA, demagoguery and making promises we can't possibly keep.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: I'll spare you the figures and the math because, quite simply, it make my eyes glaze over. But here's the scenario. The government, like your household, takes in money every month and spends it on necessities, niceties, whatever. If the money runs out, the government and many households use credit to keep on spending. And that works for a while. But at some point, if nothing changes, every dollar that comes in goes for payment on the debt. Every other expense is cut out or paid for with more debt.

In 15 years, if nothing changes -- this is interesting -- every dollar the federal government takes in will go for Social Security and Medicare and for interest on the debt. There will be no money for anything else, none. Even before that, the panel warns, ever-rising debt will force up the cost of borrowing for everybody. It will tie the government's hands when it needs cash for emergencies and send even more of our tax dollars to countries that hold America's IOUs. China leads that pack.

Now, we could spend hours going through the spending cuts the panel may recommend, but with all the fuss about extending Bush-era tax cuts, you may wonder how high the rates might actually go. Well, if the debt commission has its way -- and, again, that's way, way away from happening -- bottom line, income tax rates would go down. Yes, I did just say down, maybe as low as 8 percent for the lowest earners. We could all like that, right? But deductions, exemptions, credits would go away or be sharply reduced. The gas tax would go up by 15 cents a gallon. Stay tuned on that one.

So tracking down a suspected drug cartel hit man. Will he be convicted? We'll take you to the epicenter of Mexico's drug war right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: To Mexico's deadly drug war now. We told you yesterday about the arrest of a suspected gang leader and hit man for some of the drug lords waging the war against the government and the Mexican people. The center of it all is Juarez, just south of El Paso. Now that the alleged killer is in custody, the question a lot of people are asking, Will he be convicted? Few in Juarez believe it'll actually ever happen.

CNN's Ed Lavandera traveled to the border city and spoke to some residents and officials about the case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just minutes after crossing into Juarez, we hear reports of a new murder in this modest neighborhood. We climb onto a rooftop to get a better view. (on camera): It's just after 9:00 o'clock in the morning here in Juarez, and already we're at a crime scene, answering (ph) reports here of a woman that's been executed in her home.

(voice-over): The woman was shot and stabbed in the head. It's a crime that will probably never be solved, and it's the kind of crime the Mexican government vows will end as high-profile cartel leaders are swept off the streets.

The latest arrest celebrated by the Mexican government is of this man, Arturo Gallegos Castrellon. Mexican authorities say he's the leader of a vicious street gang carrying out deadly hits for the Juarez cartel. Gallegos is accused of ordering the murders of a American consulate worker, Leslie Enriquez (ph), who was pregnant, and her husband. They were gunned down in the middle of a busy street last March, driving home from a child's birthday party.

And in January, 15 young kids were killed in the middle of a party inside this home, crimes that have shocked even this murder- ravaged border town.

(on camera): Arturo Gallegos was arrested in one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in all of Juarez. We'd like to take you inside and get beyond that security checkpoint, but this is as far as we can go. But behind these 10-foot cement walls and tall pine trees, you'll find mansions belonging to some of the richest people in this city. But Arturo Gallegos did not go quietly.

(voice-over): A violent firefight erupted when hundreds of federal police officers converged on Gallegos. Authorities shut down four major roads surrounding the neighborhood. Gallegos was later paraded before the cameras. Federal officials in Mexico claim Gallegos is responsible for 80 percent of the murders in Juarez since August of last year. That's more than 2,000 murders. But not many people believe that claim, including the Juarez mayor.

(on camera): The federal police have said that he was responsible for 80 percent of the murders that have occurred here recently. Do you believe that number?

MAYOR HECTOR "TOTO" MURGUIA, CIUDAD JUAREZ, MEXICO: Well, I don't know. I got a doubt about that number. It's so high.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Arturo Gallegos is a mysterious and shadowy figure of the Juarez underworld. We came to Gustavo de la Rose Hickerson to learn more about Gallegos. Hickerson is a human rights activist and a long-time critic of the drug cartels and corrupt police officers. He has many enemies and moves around with bodyguards. As we sat down to interview him, those bodyguards stood around us, machine guns ready.

Hickerson tells me that Gallegos didn't take the usual path to become a hit man. They're often plucked from the police force. He says Gallegos started as a young drug dealer and quickly and quietly moved up the ranks to assassin. Hickerson says this is a big arrest, but fears prosecutors will never convict him of murder. (on camera): In the last 8,200 homicides, he says that they have less than 100 sentences for murder, a hundred convictions of murder.

GUSTAVO DE LA ROSA HICKERSON, HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST: Yes.

LAVANDERA: There's no justice system here?

HICKERSON: In Juarez, don't have justice system.

LAVANDERA: And that is the problem as the murders keep piling up, no sense of justice. In the six hours we spent there, seven murders were reported across the city. Ed Lavandera, CNN, Juarez, Mexico.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: A short time ago, polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs was arraigned in a west Texas court on charges including sexual assault and bigamy. The court appearance comes less than 24 hours after he was extradited from Utah. Jeffs, you'll remember, is the leader of the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints. The charges in Texas stem from raids at the Yearning for Zion ranch a couple years ago. Jeffs didn't enter a plea today.

Six American troops killed in Afghanistan may have been victims of a Taliban secret agent. The Taliban claim the Afghan border patrol officer who opened fire on the NATO convoy joined the police just to carry out an attack. But his police commander disputes that, saying he was a trusted officer trained by coalition forces. The officer was killed. NATO is investigating.

And we've been talking about it a lot, but today, as a reminder, is World AIDS Day. A new United Nations report says new HIV infections have actually dropped by 20 percent worldwide in the past decade. The number of AIDS deaths is also dropping. But there still aren't enough people getting treated. The report says there are two new infections for every one person starting treatment.

And we're going to hear -- we're going to tell you more -- get you even more about the progress in the fight against AIDS from an expert on the front lines. You don't want to miss it, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: AIDS is a killer that shows absolutely no mercy. Today is World AIDS Day, and around the globe, there are cheers for gains in the fight against HIV/AIDS, but also the realization that the battle is far from over.

Here in Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park, organizers showed off the world-renowned AIDS quilt today. And the U.N. say the number of new HIV infections is actually decreasing, but there are two new infections for every one person starting HIV treatment.

Since the start of the epidemic in the 1980s, nearly 30 million people have died. Here in the U.S., there are more than one million people with HIV. There are about 56,000 new infections every year. Less than half of Americans have had an AIDS test since guidelines were expanded to include routine screenings, and the CDC urges routine testing for everyone ages 13 to 64 and annual testing for gay men and intravenous drug users, as well.

Earlier, I spoke with Mark Ishaug. He's the president and CEO of the newly created AIDS United and holds the same position for the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. I began by asking him to go beyond the numbers of this deadly disease.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK ISHAUG, PRES. & CEO, AIDS FOUNDATION OF CHICAGO: Hi, Kate. Thanks for having me on. Yes, I mean, this is a really important day, World AIDS Day. And it's not just about the numbers, which are horrific -- 33 million worldwide and a million people in America living with HIV. But this is also a time of great hope. And that's why I'm so excited to be leading this new organization, AIDS United, which is the result of a merger of AIDS Action and the National AIDS Fund. But it's not about the merger. It's about what we're going to do to end this epidemic in America.

BOLDUAN: Tell me about the merger. What is it gaining for you? What are you guys taking on? How are you taking on this fight -- continuing the fight? Where are you putting your focus?

ISHAUG: Well, in a couple of ways. But we are so committed to unifying the fight against AIDS and to bringing all people into this big tent because the only way we're going to conquer AIDS in America is if we are united. And that's what AIDS United is going to be all about.

But we're going to focus on a couple of things. We're going to focus on raising public and private resources and getting those dollars to the communities most impacted by AIDS, including the South, which is just devastated by this epidemic. The second thing that we're going to do is really focus on health care reform because this, Kate, this is the game-changer. This is what will bring about the end of the epidemic in the United States.

BOLDUAN: I was reading something that really struck me. I read that despite the lower numbers, the demand for resources is still surpassing the supplies that are out there. Are people forgetting about the crisis that we still face with AIDS and HIV?

ISHAUG: Yes, I think, as Dr. Koop, the former surgeon general, said so eloquently a couple weeks ago, in some ways, AIDS is a forgotten epidemic in America. And AIDS United, we're about changing that story because we can. There are a million people living with AIDS in this country and there are 50,000 to 60,000 new infections. Each one of them is preventable. And if we just focus our energy and our resources, we can end this epidemic.

As the head of the CDC said recently -- and we have agreed with this for a long time -- AIDS is winnable. We have tools. We have expertise. We have the best scientific minds in this country. We have people with HIV that are so committed themselves to ending this epidemic, and that if we unite through AIDS United and all of our other partners, there is no way that we cannot win this battle.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: That was Mark Ishaug, the president and CEO of the newly created AIDS United, talking to us on this World AIDS Day.

Well, coming up: guns, tear gas, violence and death. Sounds like a war zone, doesn't it? It's actually election day in Haiti. CNN iReporter and former bassist for The Black Crows and Train is here to tell us about what he saw, coming up in "Globe Trekking."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: It's half past the hour. Let's get to the latest developments in today's big stories.

Severe weather is being blamed for one death in New Jersey right now. It's all part of a system causing flood watches and warnings across the northeast. It's the same system that caused major damage in the southeast yesterday.

Also, the harsh reality of the federal deficit, front and center this hour. The president's commission is out with a very long list of program cuts and tax hikes that could mean big changes for your family's finances.

And encouraging numbers from the UN on this World AIDS Day. New HIV infections are down 20 percent over the past decade. But the number of new infections still outpaces the number of people starting treatment.

So imagine going to cast your vote for president and being met with violent protesters and even teargas. That's exactly what happened in Haiti over the weekend. And our own Ivan Watson got caught up in the mess. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

IVAN WATSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: All right. So some of the security forces -- wow, it's starting to hurt -- have just fired teargas or pepper gas to disperse the crowd. Haiti is in the midst of a political crisis right now. Not much else you can call it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: This incident in Port-au-Prince happened the day after Haiti's national election. The election ended with allegations of widespread fraud. So far, there has been no clear evidence of major fraud, but there were many reports Sunday of disorganization and some cases of just apparent cheating at the polls.

In addition to violence, some Haitians were not allowed to vote because their names were missing from voter lists. Last week, we had CNN iReporter Johnny Colt on to talk about the cholera outbreak as well as -- in Haiti, as well as the clashes with United Nations peacekeepers. You actually since then -- you went back down and you've come back up.

Let's start where we kind of left off last hour. You were telling me about a friend of yours, you followed him in, he was trying to vote, and he ran into these problems.

JOHNNY COLT, MUSICIAN & CNN IREPORTER: Yes, we started the day with my close friend Gaston, who was trying -- he's a Haitian man trying to vote. I thought it was going to be just a quick morning story. We'll run down, we'll catch him.

Instead, when we got there, his name wasn't on the voter roll. His name isn't on the list. So, we went to seven different polling stations.

BOLDUAN: Seven?

COLT: His name was nowhere to be found. We started at 8:00. By 4:00 PM in the afternoon, we finally were able to get Gaston to vote, registered in Cite Soleil, which is a whole other section of Port-au- Prince.

Here's Gaston now on screen trying to find his name at the third polling station. Now, if you look in the background, these are schools and they're voting in each room. There is no privacy when you vote.

BOLDUAN: So everyone can see what you're doing?

COLT: It's a -- first off, everyone's fighting just to be able to get the opportunity to vote. You have to have a registration card first, find your name on the list, then get one of these -- this is a ballot right here this woman has. Now, Gaston's holding this up because this is what he's not allowed to fill out.

This is Cite Soleil at 4:00 PM. Gaston is -- you see the line, here, people are just -- that's Gaston right there in the white shirt. Zooming in on him, trying to get into the table to be able to find out whether he can vote. It's a long process.

BOLDUAN: He looks frustrated.

COLT: He's a great man. So here, you can see here the pressure on the voting table -- is this? -- I'm not sure if they'll run this whole piece, but after, people are pushing each other, and it's tight and tense.

Now, Gaston finally gets his -- I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be calling this whole thing out.

BOLDUAN: Right.

COLT: But he finally gets his ballot, here.

BOLDUAN: Then he -- then he goes into -- COLT: Look, he's so excited. Look at his face. What a great guy. Took all day.

BOLDUAN: So, Johnny, you -- there's so much going on in Haiti. The earthquake, and then the cholera outbreak. You went down and you were in the middle of it during the -- at the cholera outbreak that's still ongoing, with clashes with UN peacekeepers. And then, this disorganization that's going on with the election. What are you -- what's the sense that you're getting when you're down there still? These tensions and these problems, and it just seems like a mass of frustration.

COLT: The more I work on Haiti, the more complicated the story gets. I keep -- as a journalist, I keep trying to get it into a nice little box to present it to people in a way that makes sense, and it just doesn't fit.

There is clashes, there is violence over the election, but there's also people continuing to campaign. So, sometimes those things look very similar between violence and continued campaigning.

The vote -- I went to the press conference. They said the vote is going to stand. They said there was some fraudulent activity, but not enough to be considered mass fraud.

BOLDUAN: Right, exactly.

COLT: OK, well, I'm not sure what to do with this.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: How much is too much fraud when it comes to an election?

COLT: It was a new experience for me, so -- But again, Haiti needs an election. They need new leadership.

BOLDUAN: They need a government.

COLT: They need a government, they need infrastructure, they need many, many things. So, again, it just gets more and more complicated.

BOLDUAN: As usual, we're out of time, but what's next for you?

COLT: Probably more Haiti.

BOLDUAN: Someone's got to stay on it.

COLT: Well, when they're going to announce who wins the election, that's probably something that I'm going to -- I'll be there for that.

BOLDUAN: Excellent, excellent. Johnny Colt, thank you so much.

COLT: Thank you. BOLDUAN: It's fabulous work that you're doing. Thank you.

So, imagine being paid $100,000 to take a few years off of college. It's part of a new fellowship designed to jump start innovation. You'll meet the man behind that plan, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: Time for "Chalk Talk" now. Future innovators are being told to stop out of college. Not dropout. Just take a break to innovate. This is part of a program called 20 under 20.

Twenty visionaries under the age of 20 will be given $100,000 for a two-year fellowship. Their only responsibility will be to follow their dreams. The man behind the plan is Peter Thiel. You may know him as the founder of PayPal, he also is the founder of the Thiel Foundation, which is behind this vision quest.

Peter, thanks for joining me. First off, the first thing that obviously strikes everyone is, you're paying people to stop out of college. How is this good education? What's the idea behind this?

PETER THIEL, FOUNDER, THIEL FOUNDATION: Well, it's definitely -- the idea behind it is that the US needs to do something to get its innovation engine started again. I'm very involved in working with a number of start-up technology companies here in Silicon Valley.

And while there's always a decent amount that's happening, I worry that, as a society, we don't see enough going on and that this is one of the reasons I think people are so pessimistic about the future and think that things in 20 years, 30 years from now will not be any better than today. If we get technology innovation working once again in the US, I think things will be dramatically better. and we need to figure out how to do this.

As I looked at a lot of the great tech companies that have been started, they were started by people who stopped out of college. Microsoft was Bill Gates, stopped out his sophomore year. Apple's Steve Jobs stopped out. A lot of the Facebook people stopped out of Harvard to get that company started. Whole Foods, the entrepreneur who started Whole Foods dropped out of college.

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: So is a four-year education hurting people?

THIEL: A lot of these entrepreneurship can be started very early.

BOLDUAN: So, is the idea that a four-year college education is somehow preventing people from being innovative? What is it about a four-year college degree that isn't working?

THIEL: It is -- it is not necessary for being an entrepreneur. Certainly college is good for people who are pursuing extremely tracked careers in law and finance, in academia, in medicine. But it is not clear that it is necessary at all for people doing new things that are at the frontiers of knowledge.

One thing that I think has changed dramatically for the worse in education is the amount of student debt people are accumulating is incredibly high. A quarter of a million dollars is what it costs to go to a four-year private school in the US, and at the end of that, people basically have to take well-paying jobs to pay off their debt, and they cannot do anything entrepreneurial, anything in a nonprofit sector, anything that doesn't just pay you a lot of cash.

So, I do think there's something about the amount of debt that's involved in college that has changed very dramatically from the world of the 1960s and 1970s, when college was basically free and you didn't actually have to think about this.

When people are paying this much to go to college, you need to start thinking about what you're going to be doing a lot sooner and not simply be treating it as something that will automatically be a good decision.

BOLDUAN: So, Peter, tell me -- as usual, we're running out of time. 20 under 20, you're going to pick these fellows. They get $100,000. What are they expected to do with it? What kind of projects are you asking them to jump into?

THIEL: We are asking people to -- it's 20under20.org is the application site. We're asking people to apply individually or in teams of up to four people, and they can propose a tech company. We will try to identify various people to mentor them and work with them in Silicon Valley.

Obviously, if it doesn't work out, people can always go back to college, but the hope is that a few people, indeed all the people we identify. will find things that are so incredible that they will continue working on building some of the great new technologies for the 21st century and the US.

BOLDUAN: Fascinating idea. Let's hope it works out. Peter Thiel, radical idea in education. But who knows? We can use it. Thanks so much for joining us.

THIEL: Thanks.

BOLDUAN: All right, so let's get a check of our top stories now. Unemployment benefits are about to run out for nearly 2 million Americans. Senate Republicans and Democrats aren't seeing eye-to-eye over how to continue funding the payouts. Congress has extended the deadline for filing four times in the past year.

NASA is stirring up a lot of -- NASA is always stirring up a lot of buzz, but it's also stirring up a lot of buzz about whether there is really extraterrestrial life out there. It's planning to hold a news conference tomorrow to discuss what it calls an astrobiology finding. So, maybe we'll have to wait and see if, in fact, ET finally phoned home.

And we want to show you these pictures right now, just in, actually, from our affiliate in Detroit, Michigan. This is our affiliate, WDIV. An office building is on fire. Obviously pretty amazing pictures that we're looking at. Just look at that plume of smoke and flames.

Police and fire officials are closing several nearby roads. If you live in that area, you are being asked to avoid that area. There are no reports of injuries at this moment. We'll obviously keep an eye on this to try to figure out what caused this blaze and bring it to you as soon as we get it.

Also, Richard Branson created Virgin Records, Virgin Airlines, and the first -- the world's first commercial spacecraft. But what does he have planned for the iPad? It's pretty interesting. We'll tell you.

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BOLDUAN: Sir Richard Branson is at it again, darn it. From the entrepreneurial mind that brought Virgin Airlines and the Enterprise, the world's first commercial spacecraft, comes an idea that may change magazines and newspapers forever.

Take a look at this. Yesterday, Branson launched "Project," an iPad-only magazine sold at the Apple store and he called it no less than the future of publishing. The first issue of the magazine costs $2.99 and show cases the iPad's multimedia capabilities.

We downloaded it -- unfortunately, this is not my iPad, this is our producer Kelly's (ph) iPad. You have to see -- of course, now I'm not going to be able to do it. OK, this is amazing. This is the cover of the magazine and we've been playing with it all morning. It's some seriously amazing stuff. It moves. You can slide through the pictures. I could go on and on about it.

Anyway, for an article on actor Jeff Bridges background music plays as an animated of Bridges spins and makes various faces. It's truly fascinating and our Poppy Harlow talked with Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson about it all.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIR RICHARD BRANSON, CHAIRMAN, VIRGIN GROUP: We'll work with the iPad initially. It's a fantastic platform. It's literally exploding around the world.

It enables you to do things with a magazine on the iPad that you could never do with a normal magazine in the stores. So it brings the magazine alive.

POPPY HARLOW, CNNMONEY.COM: Is the future of publishing in apps and not in physically printed products?

BRANSON: Sadly, for physically printed products, I think the future is in apps. I mean, for an appetizer, Virgin Atlantic is -- with our planes, for instance, if we advertise on target, we're going to be able to, you know, take people into the plane, we're going to be able to let people hear the roar of the engines, we're going to let people be able to see what kind of seats they're sitting in, we're going to be able to let people see the quality of the food. But we can do it all in a really fun way, which is not possible in a magazine in the bookstores.

HARLOW: Is there real money to be made here, Richard? I mean, you do delve into things that are unexpected, like Galactic. But you also are a savvy businessman. So you clearly see this as a sustainable business.

BRANSON: I have no idea whether we'll make money out of it. I hope it will pay the bills.

And I think if you create the best, and if it's a really fun magazine, if it's one that people are telling their friends about, it's only costing $2.99 a month, so I think word of mouth will get out. And hopefully we'll get many, many people wanting to subscribe to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Bringing in Poppy Harlow now.

So, Poppy, is this like "Video Killed the Radio Star"-type of a situation?

HARLOW: It might be. What is interesting is Richard Branson is doing this and we sort of know him, Kate, for shaking up conventional industries. Look what he did to the music industry, look what he did to the airline industry and now he's doing it to publishers around the world.

But what's interesting, too, is he's not the only mogul to do this. He is the first one to have a magazine that is only in an app and only on the iPad, but Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul, head of News Corp, is doing something similar. He's going to launch "The Daily", a daily newspaper only on the iPad.

And I spoke to Richard Branson about that. He said there's the headlines it's the battle between myself and Rupert Murdoch, that's not necessarily true. But they're both starting with Apple, which is free. But what Branson said is, Kate, he's not going to stick just with the iPad. He's starting on it and then they'll progress onto other tablets.

But see, this wouldn't work on a Kindle, for example, which is black and white. So he has to wait for the technology to get there and then they'll move outside of just working with Apple. But we'll see, he clearly said he does not think the future in publishing is in print in any way, shape or form, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Fascinating. A man ahead of his time, always.

HARLOW: I know you're enjoying playing with it.

BOLDUAN: I'm like a kid in a candy store. And I have no idea what I'm doing, of course, but it's fun. Great interview.

(CROSSTALK)

All right, Poppy. Thanks so much. Great interview.

So a message for Sarah Palin: You're no Reagan. Find out who said that in our CNN political update, next.

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BOLDUAN: Time now for a CNN political update, and Dick Cheney has some ideas on who should be running the Republican Party. CNN chief national correspondent John King joins me now from Washington.

John, what's up with the former vice president?

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kate, he's trying to get back into the mix.

Good to see you today.

And I can show you his picture right here on the Political Ticker. There's Dick Cheney, the slimmed-down Dick Cheney. He's trying to get involved in one of the big new political challenges and that is who should be the next Republican National Committee chairman or chairwoman.

His candidate is Maria Cino, she served in the Bush administration at the Commerce Department, at the Transportation Department. She also was a key lieutenant in the Bush/Cheney campaigns. She's one of several trying to replace Michael Steele, who is the current RNC chairman.

There's actually a forum underway this hour in Washington. Maria Cino is not there, but several of the other potential candidates to lead the Republican National Committee into the next presidential cycle are there trying to spread their ideas and win votes in the party.

But it's very interesting to see the former vice president get involved. He's going to raise some money for Maria Cino along with a another key lieutenant from the Bush/Cheney days, Mary Matlin, who, of course, is a political contributor here on CNN.

Here's another big story on the Ticker today in Washington today. Remember yesterday that big meeting at the White House? It was going to be Kumbaya, bipartisanship? The president had the Republican Congressional leaders down. Well, it lasted a few hours, Kate, anyway.

A letter from the Senate Republicans today to the Democratic Leader Harry Reid, who still runs the Senate, said essentially, we will do nothing, we will block anything until we negotiate a tax cut deal.

That letter says this, "We write to inform you we will not agree to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed," meaning we will not agree to go forward, "on any legislative item until the Senate has acted to fund the government and we have prevented the tax increase that is currently awaiting all American taxpayers."

So no Dream Act, no "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," no anything else Senate Republicans say until they try to negotiate an agreement on tax cuts.

And here's another old face getting involved in a new political story. If you're on the Political Ticker today, find the column by Ed Rollins, he's a CNN contributor, of course, but he also was a key lieutenant to Ronald Reagan back in his days as California governor when Ronald Reagan ran for president, he was the political director in the Reagan White House.

He writes a column today under this headline, "To Sarah Palin: I knew Reagan. You're No Reagan." Ed Rollins goes on to write in this provocative column, he says, "If you have want to be a player, go to school and learn the issues. If you want to be taken seriously, be serious. If you want to be a gadfly, just keep doing what you're doing."

So, OK, the guy who knows a lot about running for president on the Republican side, Ed Rollins, essentially saying to Sarah Palin, you've got potential, but in his view she's lacking substance.

BOLDUAN: All right. John King, chief national correspondent and host of "JOHN KING, USA" 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Thanks, John.

KING: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Your next update just an hour away.

We'll be right back.

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